The Frown
by Was-Mokie
Summary: When there is no smile left there can only be a frown. Continuation of "The Smile."
1. Chapter 1

The Frown

By:

Me

I own nothing, but sure would like to own Atticus Mitchell. Just saying.

OO

There was no way to coax a smile out of him anymore. His smile had died the day that he had found his best friend in his room lying so still upon the cold floor. He remembered the way Ms. Weir had shrieked on the phone to 911. He remembered how his best friend's father had begged his son's forgiveness as he cradled the teen's limp body. He remembered as Benny was loaded into the ambulance. He remembered and it hurt.

He walked through the hospital doors and took the elevator. He walked down a long hallway until he came to the room he was looking for. Doctor's thought that Benny had slipped into a coma due to abuse. His best friend's body had been a mass of fresh and partially healed bruises. Benny had hidden the fact that his father was beating him on a regular basis. It had made him wonder what else his best friend had been hiding behind his smile.

The teen stepped into the room to find his friend lying still and pale in the hospital bed. Benny's hair had grown longer over the last few months. It hurt to see all of the IV's in his hands and to hear the slow beat of his friend's heart on the heart monitor. Ms. Weir looked up as he entered. Looking at her he remembered their conversation in the emergency room on that tragic morning.

"_What happened Ms. Weir?"_

"_Benny drank the elixir of eternal sleep. He…he knew what he was doing when he mixed that potion, Ethan."_

"_Why? Why would he do that? Didn't he know what that would do to us?"_

"_I think he was trying to escape from pain. He must have been hurting a lot to give up like this."_

Pain? How could Benny have been experiencing pain without anyone knowing? Why hadn't he said anything to his best friend? Guilt pricked at him as he remembered all the times that he rejected Benny's offer to spend time together. It hurt to admit that he had been a contributor to his friend's anguish.

"I'll be back in a couple of hours," Ms. Weir said as she stood, "Thank you for keeping my grandson company while I go clean up and get some more clothes."

He numbly nodded as he took up his best friend's hand in his as he remembered hearing the news of Benny's condition.

"_Benny is in a form of a coma. His body will continue to function until it starves to death. The hospital will probably keep him on life support."_

"_Can't you mix up a potion to make him wake up?"_

"_No, Ethan. I know of no potion to wake anyone from eternal sleep. I only wish he had come to me. I should have reached out to him more. I should have known what his father was doing to him. I don't think I was really emotionally there for him. That poor child. How much did he hurt to have gone through with this?"_

He had spent hours begging his friend to wake up with no effect. His friends had also visited and tried to get through to Benny. He never responded. He never moved, or joked, or laughed, or smiled. It hurt to have his best friend so close, but yet so far.

"Hey, B," he greeted as he rubbed his thumb across Benny's palm as he held his friend's hand, "Your father's trial was today. He pleaded guilty to all charges. He is going to pay for what he did to you."

He sighed when he got no response.

"That is probably not what you really wanted, Benny," he continued, "I think what you wanted is for someone to care. That's what you were trying to tell me, wasn't it? But I was too busy with my relationship with Sarah to spare the time for you. I am so sorry!"

Tears stung his eyes as his heart throbbed. He remembered going back to school after Benny had fallen into the eternal sleep and hearing everybody's fake condolences. His whole attitude changed as he grew sullen and angry at the world.

"_You never cared for Benny before! You only ever made his life miserable! How does it feel to know the depths of your cruelty? You were all a part of his pain! I hate you!"_

"_Mr. Morgan that is quite enough."_

"_You! How many times did he ask you for help? You're the damn principle! Benny needed you and you let him down!"_

He had been suspended from school many times for starting fights with Benny's tormentors. The bullies were taken aback at the depths of his anger and now tried to avoid the "insane" teen. He sighed again as his words replayed in his hea_d. _"Benny needed you and you let him down."

"You needed all of us and we all let you down," he said to his comatose friend, "I think back on some of the things that our friends and I said to you and I feel like the worst person in the world. How could I have been such a fool? Please wake up so I can beg for your forgiveness."

His parents and little sister avoided him these days. He had grown distant from his friends. Nothing felt right or important anymore. The world felt dull and colorless.

"What kind of a Seer am I if I can't even protect my best friend?" he lamented as he stood and began to pace in front of Benny's bed, "Why wasn't I given a vision to help you? Why did you hide your pain from me? I could have helped you!"

He shook in frustration as his heart throbbed. Benny's body was starting to give out. His best friend didn't have very much time left. He gingerly took Benny's hand once again in his.

"You always smiled," he sniffled out as he shook in grief, "I thought you would always be there smiling. I took for granted the fact that my best friend would always be there to pick me up when I was down. You are my rock, Benny. I need you. Please wake up. Come home."

For him the sun did not shine, the flowers did not bloom, the birds did not sing. There was no laughter. There was no fun. There was nothing left for him anymore.

"I hate it here without you," he confessed, "I…I can't go on if you leave. I don't want to. If you leave this world I will follow. I don't care anymore. A person who can't even help his best friend doesn't have the right to live if his friend cannot be there."

He gasped when he felt himself pulled into a vision without warning. He looked around in wander before he spotted a figure walking away into pitch darkness in the distance.

"Benny!" he gasped as he raced over but no matter how much he ran he couldn't reach his friend, "Benny! Wait!"

"Why are you disturbing me?" Benny demanded as he stopped and kept his back turned as he stared into the ominous blackness ahead of him, "I was at peace and you are pulling me back into the pain. I want to sleep."

"No, Benny," he begged in desperation, "You'll die. Let me help you. We all miss you so much. Come home."

"Missed me?" Benny snorted out in disbelief, "Missed the disgusting loser? I doubt it!"

"Don't you dare!" he spat angrily making Benny turn around and stare at him with shocked eyes, "Your grandmother has barely left your side since you drank that damn potion! We've all been worried sick about you! I miss you so much it hurts! There is nothing left in the world that can make me smile anymore. I am so sorry that I have not been a very good friend to you! Come home, Benny! I'm begging you!"

He felt Benny studying him as the two stared one another down. He calmed down and gave his best friend his best look of pleading.

"We all figured out how horrible we have been to you," he admitted, "Sarah, Erica, Rory, your grandmother and I feel terrible. We were so used to you always bouncing back that we never figured out how much you internalized everything. We never knew that we were hurting you so badly."

"I was a person too," Benny choked out as he took a step backwards into the blackness.

"You are _still_ a person and we did not show you the love and respect you deserved, he explained as he held his arms out to his friend in a pleading manner, "Please let us make everything up to you. Please come back to us. I…I can't go on without you."

"You don't need me," Benny whispered as he folded his arms across his chest as if he was cold, "You've always been the stronger out of the two of us."

"I was only strong because you were holding me up, B," he continued as he took a step towards his friend, "I love you like a brother. I need my brother in the world with me and if you can't be in the world with me then I will come to this side to find you."

Benny looked up in surprise with wide eyes.

"Come home with me, Benny," he insisted again as he took another step forward, "I want to help wash your pain away. Giving up on life isn't going to make anything better. You'll just leave unfinished business behind."

Benny blinked at him before cocking his head in a questioning manner.

"It will never be the same again," Benny denied as he shook his head, "I can't be the way I was before."

"Good," he said as he stepped forward once again, "That Benny was hiding his pain. I want to know what my best friend is really feeling. I want to know if he is hurt, or angry, or depressed. I want to be there for you through happiness or sadness. So does everyone else. Come home, Benny. Please?"

"What if I am not the smiling Benny you always knew before?" his best friend questioned as he took a baby step forward.

"I only want to see you smile if you are happy," he stated as he continued to hold his arms out to his friend.

"I don't want to hurt anymore, Benny whispered as tears streamed from his eyes and he trembled where he stood.

"We will work hard to help you so we can ease your pain," he offered as he stepped forward again, "I am so sorry that I let you down. I can't lose you, B. You are my rock."

Something must have crumbled within Benny because he threw himself into his best friend's arms as he sobbed pitifully into the shorter teen's shoulder. He smiled in relief as he comforted the taller teen.

"Let's go home, B," he breathed into Benny's ear, "Let's start over again."

"So you're saying let's not rock let's roll?" Benny offered.

"Benny," he giggled out as his best friend offered a timid smile, "Yes. That is exactly what I am saying."

He was suddenly flung out of the vision. He found himself once again sitting beside his comatose friend in a dull, colorless world. He frowned deeper before he perked up. Color blossomed throughout the world again with the flutter of emerald eyes.

He smiled and was rewarded with a smile in return.


	2. Chapter 2

The Frown

By:

Me

I own nothing, but sure would like to own Atticus Mitchell. Just saying

OO

He smiled as he watched Benny sleep from across the room while he worked on a school project at his computer desk. The spell master had trusted in his friend enough to give life another try. He remembered how happy he had been when Benny's eyes had opened in that hospital room four months ago, but things did not just settle perfectly into place. Benny was withdrawn and emotionally scarred due to years of abuse at his father's hands. Plus, Benny tended to fall back on his habit of hiding his feelings. It took long therapy sessions and antidepressants to get the taller teen to start opening up again.

"But you never gave up," he proudly thought as he fondly gazed at his best friend, "You fought on despite your fears."

He had been a part of Benny's counseling sessions several times. It had been so hard to hear how much he had trampled on his best friend's feelings with carelessly spoken words. Benny had admitted that he too was partially to blame for allowing things to get to the point that he was overwhelmed by keeping everything locked up inside, but his therapist had assured the distraught young man that this had only been a defense mechanism to survive. He and Benny were able to work out a lot of issues between the two. His best friend was also reconciling with his grandmother. The two had really become a lot closer.

He smiled as his best friend began to mumble in his sleep for Jane to not eat the last piece of pizza. Benny had been terrified of his own home when he got out of the hospital. The house had become the symbol for physical pain for the taller teen and he had cringed outside of the door in terror. He remembered Benny's panicked cries.

_"No! I can't. I don't want to go in there."_

_ "It's okay, Benny."_

_ "No! He'll hurt me! I don't want to hurt anymore. I'm scared!" _

He put his foot down on that day. He convinced his parents to move his old bed upstairs and Ms. Weir had invested in some bunk beds for the two teens. He had felt very relieved when Benny began to show interest in arranging the room for both himself and his best friend. Now he slept on the top bunk and the taller teen slept on the bottom bunk in the far corner of the room. Benny was as close to a brother as he would ever have and it was only fitting for him to come and live with the Morgans. Ms. Weir had also rented the guest bedroom to stay close to her grandson. He loved and appreciated his family very much for agreeing to open their home to the Weirs.

A knock at the door alerted him that someone was coming in.

"Hello, Ethan," Ms. Weir greeted as she entered the room with a tray of cookies and two glasses of milk.

"Hi, Ms. Weir," he echoed back as he watched Benny's grandmother set the tray on Benny's desk before gently shaking her grandson awake.

Benny sleepily rubbed at his eyes as he sat up in the lower bunk. Ms. Weir cooed sweetly to him until he fully woke and allowed her to cuddle him against her. He smiled when he saw his friend's contented face. Benny had been correct in what he had said in the vision. He was not the same as before. He was a lot more serious and had times of quiet introspection. He and Benny had worked out a sign with one another so that he knew when the spell master needed to talk. He paid close attention to his best friend to assist him in his recovery.

"Sweetheart, you need to eat so that you can take your meds," Ms. Weir advised as she released her grandson and retrieved the tray of cookies, "I made your favorite, double chocolate chip."

Benny had begun to frown at the word "meds" before he perked up happily at the tray full of some of his favorite treats. Benny looked up and invited his best friend over to share in the cookies.

"Don't mind if I do," he agreed as he came over to sit at the spell master's desk chair to munch on his snack and drink the cold milk, "These are some of my favorites too."

He and Benny had stayed up late many times so that the taller teen could unburden himself to his best friend. He knew that the spell master hated taking the antidepressants.

"_Makes me feel like I am crazy."_

"_You are not crazy. You are just going through a very rough, emotional time right now. The medicine is only to help you stabilize your mood until you can work through all of your feelings."_

"_So you don't think less of me that I have to rely on pills?"_

"_Never. I want you to use anything that will help you get better."_

Benny finished off his snack and washed down his pills without complaint. The taller teen smiled at his grandmother as she stroked his cheek before taking her leave.

"Are you still sleepy?" he asked as he studied his roommate.

"A little," Benny admitted as he stood and stretched, "Are the others coming over tonight, E?"

"With bells on," he remarked as he watched his friend for any subtle signs of a flinch or tremor, "We're going to have a movie night. How does that sound?"

Benny smiled when he saw his best friend studying him. He was trying to be nonchalant about it, but the spell master knew him too well.

"I'm okay, E," Benny reassured as he sat back down on his bunk, "I'm ready to see everybody again on a regular basis. If I can handle school then I can handle Rory and Erica."

The spell master had just recently started going back to Whitechapel High. Benny had caught back up in his classes thanks to a tutor and was no longer behind in his studies. The student population and school staff had been very welcoming and had overwhelmed the taller teen in their good wishes for his recovery. Benny never knew that Rory, Sarah, and Erica had threatened his tormentors if they so much as looked in the spell master's direction. He smiled when he remembered their words.

"_You did what?"_

"_Dude, we so let them know who was boss. Erica was awesome!"_

"_I was pretty awesome. Those goons will never touch Benny again."_

"_Are you sure? He is going to be safe?"_

"_Nobody will get through us, Ethan. I promise. It's the least we can do since we weren't there for Benny before. We want to try and help him get better."_

He came over and sat beside the taller teen and bumped his shoulder against the other's arm. Benny smiled and leaned against him briefly as he stared off into space.

"Earth to Benny," he began as he recognized the nonverbal cues that something was up with his friend, "Come in, Benny."

"Benny, here," the spell master chuckled out.

"What's going on with you, B?" he asked, "You've been a little withdrawn today."

"I…I got a letter from my father," Benny admitted after a lengthy pause.

"What? When?" he demanded, "Are you okay?"

"Yes…no…I'm not sure," Benny sighed out before he automatically made the sign that he needed to talk out of habit, "I've been trying to figure out how to bring it up to you. I got the mail yesterday and found the letter. I think Grandma has been throwing his other letters out so that I wouldn't get upset. He apologized over and over again for what he did to me, E. Father said that he is also seeing a therapist in prison and now he is realizing that he was redirecting his self-hatred on me. I…I want to forgive him, but…I don't know."

He pulled his distraught friend into his arms and rocked him gently. The tremble of his shoulders revealed that Benny was silently crying.

"Forgiving him will take time," he instructed as he stroked his taller friend's back, "I think that the letter is too much for you right now, B."

Benny nodded as he wiped at his tears and reached over to open his desk drawer to retrieve the letter. He took it from his friend without a word and just let the taller teen lean against him until Benny was able to pull himself back together.

"I don't think I can forgive him yet," Benny whispered as he looked into his best friend's eyes, "I think I need to tell Dr. Sullivan about the letter. I…I feel really bad right now."

"Absolutely," he agreed as he realized that his friend was asking for help, "Do you feel like you need to talk this out with him right now? Where are you on the scale?"

Benny had been given a scale of 1-10. One was low stress and ten was crisis. Benny being honest about where he was on the scale had really helped him begin to deal with negative emotions in a better manner.

"Eight or nine," the spell master admitted as he shuddered in distress, "I…I do want to talk with Dr. Sullivan. I need to."

He pulled his friends closer as he called the therapist on his cell phone. Dr. Sullivan agreed to come over immediately and the Seer continued to comfort his friend as they waited.

"I am so proud of you, Benny," he stated which made the taller teen look at him in surprise, "You let me know that you needed help. That was a very smart way of handling this situation."

Benny nodded shyly before laying his head on his best friend's shoulder. In less than twenty minutes Dr. Sullivan had arrived and the Seer waited out in the living room with a stressed Ms. Weir while Benny had his counseling session up in their room.

"Why is Dr. Sullivan here?" Benny's grandmother demanded as she wrung her hands.

"Because of this," he spat out as he handed the elderly woman the letter.

"That man," Ms. Weir seethed after she read the pages, "I can't believe the son I gave birth to could be so callous. He knew that Benny was in a fragile state right now. This letter was to make himself feel better and not to reach out to the son he has been hurting. I could wring his neck!"

"Benny was able to tell me that he needed help," he explained, "He admitted to me that he felt bad instead of covering his feelings up."

"That's wonderful," Ms. Weir breathed as she took the young teen's hand, "Ethan, my grandson would never have woke if not for you. He is getting better now because of your care."

"We have all been caring for Benny," he denied in confusion.

"You're right, but you are the first one Benny began to trust again," the elderly woman explained, "You have been there for him as he has started to relearn how to live again. You saved my grandbaby's life, Ethan. Thank you so much!"

He smiled. He smiled when Benny came back down the staircase looking better about an hour later. He smiled after Dr. Sullivan left and Benny asked to order pizza for dinner. He smiled later that night when he was surrounded by all of his friends and watched as Benny giggled at the movie "Jacuzzi Time Machine." He smiled when Benny continued to joke and laugh with everyone as the night went on. He smiled when he leaned over upside down from his bunk and wished his roommate goodnight. He smiled because Benny's smile was genuine. He blinked as he adjusted to the darkness of the room after the spell master had turned off the lights.

"Ethan?" Benny called from down below.

"Yeah?" he answered.

"I'm going to be okay, E," Benny said, "It's going to take time, but I'm going to be okay. Maybe…maybe one day I'll even be able to move back to Grandma's house again."

"No rush," he assured as he leaned over the edge of his bunk and reached a hand out to his friend, "This is your home too. Always remember that. I never had any doubts that you would heal. You're my rock and much stronger than you realize."

Benny took his hand and gave it a squeeze in appreciation. In the dark he held the spell master's hand in his as his face turned red from the blood draining to his head and he smiled.

Together they smiled.

And then he toppled off the top bunk and began to curse as Benny shrieked in laughter.

Life was good.

The end.


End file.
